assassination
Americannoun
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the premeditated act of killing someone suddenly or secretively, especially a prominent person.
The meticulous way in which the journalist's assassination was carried out has led to suspicions that his killers were professionals working for state security.
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the act of destroying or harming treacherously and viciously.
They went after me with everything they had, engaging in character assassination and in destroying my reputation—a complete fabrication and frame-up.
Other Word Forms
- counterassassination noun
Etymology
Origin of assassination
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Critics described the display as macabre and unsettling, arguing it crossed a line by transforming an assassination into a spectacle.
From Salon
According to Ford’s biographer Richard Norton Smith, they feared their protective resources might be stretched dangerously thin in such a downtrodden place—a concern no doubt magnified by two earlier assassination attempts against the president.
Wiser and more practical than those around her, Maomao is able to play forensic detective, prevent assassination attempts, suss out political intrigue, resist an amorous eunuch and even ingest bits of poison safely.
From Salon
For the baby boom generation, those included the JFK assassination and the Vietnam War.
From Salon
In Soelberg’s posted transcripts, ChatGPT detailed how he had supposedly survived more than 10 assassination attempts involving tampered products and devices, and that his mother was part of it.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
